90 per cent of venues, hotels and suppliers will not survive past 2023 without additional government support, according to a new Meetings Industry Association (mia) survey.
The report, which was presented to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG), found that on average, suppliers were enduring £2,560,000 losses in revenues and 71 per cent said it would take longer than 12 months to see profits again, even if the government allowed business meetings and events from April at 50 per cent capacity.
The internal impact of Covid on staffing was also revealed in the research with 13 per cent of respondents stating that between 81-100 per cent of their workforce had been made redundant. However, the majority of organisations have used the Job Retention Scheme and currently, on average, 53 per cent of employees represented in the survey are on furlough.
The majority (83 per cent) of survey respondents said an extension to the furlough scheme until Q3 2021 would be of the “greatest benefit”, followed by a sector-specific recovery package that would support corporate confidence.
While 71 per cent of respondents said they found it “relatively straightforward" to obtain business rate relief from their local authority, 33 per cent said their organisation had been rejected from government support when they felt it should have been provided – including business rate relief, CBILS, local grants, bounce back loans.
Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the mia, said: “The mia’s latest research reveals a very bleak picture for the future of the business meetings and events sector, if no further government support is granted. The headline results were presented to the APPG on Monday and they have been supplied with the entire findings report, which has also been shared directly with the Department of Digital Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).
“These latest findings clearly demonstrate that with demand for the sector’s services severely threatened until restrictions are reduced and consumer confidence slowly begins to rebuild, time is running out for our sector.”
The survey also looked at where the business-to-business events industry sits within the government. Currently, the responsibility for its representation is in the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), but 56 per cent of respondents said it should be moved to the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
You can download a copy of the report findings here.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
